October 29, 2016

Ab ki baar Trump sarkar

Of all the gratuitous and unfair attacks on Donald Trump the one that most riles with me is against his failure to make Trump Steaks the best steaks in the world. After a careful and thorough examination of the venture that lasted a remarkable two months in the summer of 2007 I have concluded that it was not a failure at all. The decision to close it down was a case of an astonishingly far-sighted political strategy to court “Hindu Americans” nine years down the line.

Like so many of his other nearly Nostradamus-like prognostications he knew that a time would come when his steaks might stand in the way of courting the Hindu vote during a presidential election. He weighed the political stakes that early on and chose to close it down. We are so blinded by our prejudice against the man, who loves both Hindus and India, that we do not see such obvious strengths.

During the course of my research for this post, which lasted an intense 2 seconds, I was quite overcome with emotions at the man’s commitment to his constituents. I mean who does that? Who makes that level of sacrifice? And then came this gem, a campaign ad, endorsed by no less a grandee than man himself. The production values of the ad are of a quality that would attract flattering attentions from the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and attract it did. Check out this segment from Jimmy Kimmel Live.

When I first saw the ad on October 27 I couldn’t believe how well it was done. The most impressive part was that Trump managed to say five words “Ab ki baar Trump sarkar” in just two cuts. In a show of a dazzling command over languages he said “Ab ki baar Trump” without any break. I am told the writer of that memorable line had kept “Trump” halfway through it because that would act both as a beckon as well as a base camp for him to scale the summit of the sentence.

So after saying “Ab ki baar Trump” he had to take a break and then in one flourish finish the word “sarkar.” That the line is a takeoff on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election slogan “Ab ki baar Modi sarkar” is quite well known to Indians and a perfect fit because those Indian Americans who support Trump are also devotees of the Indian leader.They see clear parallels between the two men even though Modi is said to be on the first name basis with President Barack Obama, for whom Trump has displayed such unconcealed contempt.

All in all, this is a winning campaign commercial even though for reasons wholly unintended.

Comments

Ab ki baar Trump sarkar

Of all the gratuitous and unfair attacks on Donald Trump the one that most riles with me is against his failure to make Trump Steaks the best steaks in the world. After a careful and thorough examination of the venture that lasted a remarkable two months in the summer of 2007 I have concluded that it was not a failure at all. The decision to close it down was a case of an astonishingly far-sighted political strategy to court “Hindu Americans” nine years down the line.

Like so many of his other nearly Nostradamus-like prognostications he knew that a time would come when his steaks might stand in the way of courting the Hindu vote during a presidential election. He weighed the political stakes that early on and chose to close it down. We are so blinded by our prejudice against the man, who loves both Hindus and India, that we do not see such obvious strengths.

During the course of my research for this post, which lasted an intense 2 seconds, I was quite overcome with emotions at the man’s commitment to his constituents. I mean who does that? Who makes that level of sacrifice? And then came this gem, a campaign ad, endorsed by no less a grandee than man himself. The production values of the ad are of a quality that would attract flattering attentions from the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and attract it did. Check out this segment from Jimmy Kimmel Live.

When I first saw the ad on October 27 I couldn’t believe how well it was done. The most impressive part was that Trump managed to say five words “Ab ki baar Trump sarkar” in just two cuts. In a show of a dazzling command over languages he said “Ab ki baar Trump” without any break. I am told the writer of that memorable line had kept “Trump” halfway through it because that would act both as a beckon as well as a base camp for him to scale the summit of the sentence.

So after saying “Ab ki baar Trump” he had to take a break and then in one flourish finish the word “sarkar.” That the line is a takeoff on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election slogan “Ab ki baar Modi sarkar” is quite well known to Indians and a perfect fit because those Indian Americans who support Trump are also devotees of the Indian leader.They see clear parallels between the two men even though Modi is said to be on the first name basis with President Barack Obama, for whom Trump has displayed such unconcealed contempt.

All in all, this is a winning campaign commercial even though for reasons wholly unintended.